My impression is that most of us think that, as a general rule, all fruit trees need to be pruned. It’s simply not true, especially regarding citrus. In contrast to this mistaken notion I’d say that, as a general rule, citrus should not be pruned. I can think of only a couple of exceptions to this rule.
In my yard I grow eight varieties of citrus, and out of those eight I only ever touch two with my pruners, each for a different reason.
Prune to keep a citrus tree small
I give our Bearss lime tree haircuts because I want it to stay small, to about the height of my three year-old son. It already produces more limes than we use at that diminutive size. Once a year I prune it by just trimming off every branch that is taller than I want, or by handing Cass the pruners.
Five year-old lime tree being pruned by a three year-old boy.
(Buying a citrus tree labeled “dwarf” may not give you the size tree you’re expecting, by the way. See my post, “Dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard citrus trees: What are they, really?”)
Prune to shape a citrus tree
I also prune our large Valencia orange tree. It’s 25 feet tall, and I’ve never tried to trim the top. Rather, I prune the sides and interior to create an umbrella shape. I keep its skirt a few feet off the ground and then I keep the inside pruned high enough that we can walk around under it so that it feels like an outdoor living room. I prune up a couple of spots on its canopy edge to make doorways for entrance. Shaping this citrus tree in this way makes it a very comfortable spot to sit in the shade on a summer day.
I’ve even hung a swing from one of its branches.
Keeping a tree small like my lime and shaping a tree like my Valencia are the only two good reasons I can think of for pruning citrus. There are plenty of bad reasons though.
Don’t lace a citrus tree
The worst reason, or way, to prune a citrus tree that I’ve encountered is opening up the tree’s canopy so the interior gets sunlight. That can be a good idea for some other types of fruit trees, like plums and peaches. It’s definitely not advisable for citrus, however.
Why not? I once did a home consultation at a multi-million dollar residence in Rancho Santa Fe where the owners had put in an orchard of a few dozen fruit trees and then their hired gardener had pruned all of the citrus trees just like the peaches and plums. The foliage had been thinned, entire branches had been cut out, the canopies had a skeletal look, and the effect was that you could see lots of light going through the trees and hitting the interior branches.
Why are our citrus trees dying? the owner asked me. All of those interior branches now exposed to the sun were cracking and blackened from sunburn. Yes indeed, trees get sunburned.
If you want to keep a citrus tree small or shape it, then trim the outside like you would trim a hedge. Don’t cut out entire branches and expose interior parts of the tree that are used to being shaded. Have a look at this video showing how citrus farmers mechanically prune their trees. This farm is in Spain, but the same technique is used here in Southern California, and the world over.
A citrus expert once told me that if a citrus tree is in prime health, then if you look at its canopy you won’t be able to see any light or sky through it. It should be a dense green globe.
A couple of other no-good reasons to prune citrus include cutting out dead or crossing branches. That’s just a big old waste of your time. Do it if you have nothing better to do, but your citrus tree couldn’t care less if some of its branches are crossing or are dead and hanging. Both are harmless and natural. I don’t cut out any dead or crossing branches on my citrus trees and they’ve never complained about it.
Also, if aphids or leafminers or other insects have damaged the leaves of your citrus tree, don’t waste your time cutting those damaged leaves out. They’re still capable of photosynthesizing and contributing to the growth and fruitfulness of the tree even though they’re not completely healthy. Pruning them out won’t make a significant difference to the insect population in the tree either. Better to adjust your aesthetic sensibility than cut up the tree, in terms of the health of the tree.
(You might like to read my post, “Don’t spray for citrus leafminers.”)
Lastly, and here’s a bit of a twist, do pay attention to what’s growing from low down on the trunk of your citrus tree. I don’t think of this as pruning, but it’s really important that if any branch starts growing from below the graft (bud) union of your citrus tree you immediately remove it. If you’re unsure of what I mean by that, then please read my post titled, “Beware of rootstock suckers on citrus trees.” It might save the life of your tree.
When is the best time to prune?
Whenever you have pruners in hand is a fine time to prune citrus, with a couple of exceptions. One, if there is immature fruit on the tree, you might want to wait until after harvest. For example, if you’re dealing with a Satsuma mandarin tree whose fruit ripens in the winter, then you might want to wait until the spring so you don’t sacrifice fruit.
Two, if you live in a place that gets cold enough in winter to sometimes damage citrus, then you might not want to prune in winter or even fall. The reason for this is that you’ll want to enter winter with a large canopy so that you have extra leaves and branches to take any freeze damage that might occur. (The inside canopy will be protected by that outer foliage, unless the freeze is severe.) It doesn’t get cold enough to damage citrus in most of Southern California, but it does in many parts of the rest of the state, as well as most of the rest of the U.S.
Isn’t it a relief, though, to know that your citrus tree knows how to grow pretty well on its own? That’s why you can find citrus trees thriving even in Southern California yards that have been neglected for years. And that’s why every Southern California yard should have a citrus tree, or eight.
Like this post? Maybe a friend would too:
Greg, i don’t know if you noticed, but my lemon tree lost most of it’s leaves during the winter. It’s loaded with fruit, and is growing new leaves now. But is this normal? what should I look for?
Thanks in advance!!
XO
I had a Meyer Lemon that lost ALL it’s leaves due to a hard freeze here in south Texas. I was ready to dig it out and dispose of it, but I’m glad I didn’t. It came back all on it’s own and was producing two years later. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure winter leaf loss is nothing to worry about. Give your lemon a chance to recover; you’ll be glad you did.
I was searching the internet for an answer to my problem
And I found you and I think you have it to me
I am a senior and I was given a potted dwarf orange tree five years ago(I have never had one!) It was absolutely bare when I got it to the point that I didn’t know what it was. I cut into one of 5je two branches just to see if it was still alive.. It was the landlord had neglected all his plants outside due to extensive illness
Long story short; it took like two years or more for it to recover and my efforts to save it paid off as a amended the soil with rich nutritious soil and the original soil was hard like cement, so as I watered it to soften it and worked the new soil into it with my hands carefully loosening the soil
I bought a Vitus fertilizer ( after a I later found out it was a dwarf orange tree, anyway, it finally came back and it turned into a lush, green three foot tall tree! It got full sun by the pool and thrived there, My first citrus tree! I was Soo proud of myself! I was careful about how it would handle the weather here in Central California (Modesto) which is I heard, one of the agricultural centers of the nation. I covered it in the winter, didn’t over water it, if it got triple digits in the summer, I covered it then took it off when 5he temperature came down to the low 90’s.Well, that all ended this last winter when I developed fibromyalgia and I had gotten Soo tired and problems with walking and standing. I had my brother water it as well as my other plants, but I unfortunately was not able to properly care for it soo 5herw we’re times of frost that stripped all the branches of my tree! When I becameore mobile, I went out to check on it and was horrified at what I found..I was heartbroken!! Now I have to start all over again because I have all these (mostly)bare branches on it! I had been googling for advise about these bare, green branches as to if I should cut them all off to the main trunk or leave them on? I can’t send you a picture of it since I don’t know how to do it, butI think you can envision it by my description. You suggested to leave it alone..is that right or should I just cut them all off? If I do will there be new growth I haven’t really touched it much buttipped the brown ends off the branches. If you can email me, I would greatly appreciate it..Sigh! I am again, deteined to bring it back it has a lot more GREEN branches on it compared to two brown ones when I started! I am 72 years old..God Bless you!
Hi Rose,
Talk about determination! I’m confident that you can bring it back to health since you’ve done it before. I wouldn’t prune it. As long as the soil in the container doesn’t totally dry out or stay too soggy, the tree should eventually make some new leaves here in spring.
You’ll just want to make sure it doesn’t get sunburned before that happens. If you get a heatwave, shading it will work. Otherwise, you can paint the branches with a white latex paint for sunscreen too. Crossing my fingers for your tree!
I have over fertilized my Clementine tree. It’s very young.
I changed the soil.the top looks dead and the leaves dropped. Is there any hope? Should I cut the top off?
Hi Linda,
Don’t cut the top off. If the branches are still alive, there’s hope.
I was told that my rootstock tree with a small section of ambersweet could be saved with 3-4 years of pruning off rootstock 1/4 at a time. Can this be done?
Greg, we have had a Holiday avocado tree in our retaining wall that has never done well.
We’ve threatened to replace it for years.
Today we noticed that the trunk has split open in several places half way up the tree.
What would cause this?
Replace it! Replace it! Sorry. Hi Susie. Could it be sunburn?
When avocado bark gets sunburned it splits, and Holiday trees do a lot of drooping and exposing their branches to sunburn. My Holiday has a lot of sunburn and bark splitting despite my best efforts to prevent it.
I’m about to cut my Holiday down. There are so many better varieties out there. To me, the only thing Holiday has going for it is its slow, crawling growth habit. That might be an advantage in a few specific circumstances.
I REALLY BELIEVE your comments about not thinning OUT AND opening your citrus trees are on point, for sure in hot climates, like CALIFORNIA..
By me reading your REASONING OF not thinning, I’m sure you SAVED my trees from death, thank you for your expert advice…
Citrus tend to drop many of their older leaves as they grow new leaves in late winter and early spring, but there is never a time when a healthy citrus tree is leafless like an apple or peach, for example. (There actually is a kind of deciduous citrus, but it’s not a lemon or another common one that we grow.)
I have an aged lemon tree that has twice lost all of its leaves after freezing temperatures. It has come back with vigor both times. The same happened to the lime tree. I thought it was dead but it is still productive.
Hi Greg, my mom has a Meyer lemon tree that she started from a seed 10yrs ago. The tree is only 4′ tall, it is in a 10gal smartpot but has never produced fruit. We live in Grass Valley CA. (just east of Yuba City) elevation 2400′, it is protected from frost during winter. What should I feed it? To make it produce.
Hi Aimee,
I know of nothing that you can feed a seedling citrus tree in order to make it produce earlier. Seedlings take many years to fruit compared to grafted trees.
If you want Meyer lemons, then you could graft Meyer lemon onto the tree and you’ll probably get fruit the very next year.
Hello Greg, I came across your blog while looking up information on when and how to prune my orange tree. It has not been pruned in several years, and it looks like according to your blog that I should not prune it. It does however have one large dead limb. I would like to remove it, but would like to hear what you think. I will email you a photo of my tree. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Cool Greg, I can’t wait to plant an naval orange tree!!
We grow a lot of citrus in Arizona and they require a lot of water here due to the heat in the summer. Sunburn is a real problem here and many don’t know to leave the canopy alone to protect the tree.
Thanks for that, Alan. If we have to be careful about sunburn here, you must need to be even more careful, I’d imagine.
We planted a small grapefruit tree about 4 yrs ago. It finally took off last spring and grew in trunk size as well as height. We live in South Texas and after hurricane Harvey then extreme cold temps this winter the tree has nothing but dry dead looking limbs, lost all leaves and little green balls that turned brown then fell off. My husband wants to cut it down said it’s gone. I don’t, I want to wait till warmer weather and just see. Any way to tell if it’s truly gone?
Hi Inenice,
What a rough go! Sorry to hear about all of that. There is indeed a simple way to tell if there’s still life in the tree. I did this just the other day on a sycamore in my yard that I suspected of being dead. It turned out to still be alive from halfway down the trunk.
Scratch the bark on any limb with your fingernail. If you find green underneath, there’s life. It’s as simple as that. Start at the top of the tree and work your way down. You might find, as I did with my sycamore, that the top or outside limbs are dead while the lower part or inside limbs are still alive. Scratch here and there to discover. The tiny wounds you cause while doing this are no big deal.
If you find green (live cambium), then the tree should do some leafing out soon as it warms up.
As for citrus specifically, I’ve seen some dead-looking trees sprout up again from down low on the trunk so it’s definitely worth not giving up on. Do be aware of those low sprouts possibly being rootstock suckers though.
I too have the same problems with a hardy citrus tree it’s a small type of bitter orange but have lost label so don’t know variety . It’s 3 years old and has survived our UK winters but this year has been particularly harsh and it got to minus 6 degrees and loads of snow and top of it is losing all its leaves . I’ll do the scratch test but was wondering if i should cut it back as well I’m very upset as it’s such a beauty ?
Hi Tereska,
I spent a winter in the UK myself, and I think I felt like your citrus tree: a fish out of water. I didn’t even own a jacket when I arrived.
I know it’s hard to resist the temptation, but your tree is best left alone rather than being cut back. Let it show you where it still has life as spring progresses. Only then, after it’s clear which parts are dead, should you cut those dead limbs off if you wish.
The main reason for waiting is that trees sometimes surprise you with where they are still alive. Also, at least in a warmer climate like here in Southern California, dead upper branches can provide beneficial shade for lower branches as the lower branches come back to life. Those lower branches have likely been in a lot of shade in previous years and will sunburn if they are exposed to full sun. Once new leaves are shading their bark, then it’s safe to cut off the upper dead limbs.
Thank you so much for this advice will leave the branches to do what they will ? it’s getting warmer here so hopefully will start to show signs of new growth I’ve given you a follow on insta ?
Greg, I live in Palm Springs, CA and my lemon tree has several heavy dead branches that are taking out neighbors fence. I had to cut them and not sure where I should have cut them, now neighbor is complaining branches heavy in fruit are laying on his roof. Can I cut them back? I don’t have a full canopy since a large branch in middle of tree is dead. I’m at my confusion as to what to do. Thanks for any help
Hi Sheryl,
Fall is a safe time to do pruning on a lemon tree, but if the middle of the tree is dead I’d make sure you don’t have rootstock taking over.
I had a citrus tree that looked dead my landscaper did the scratch test said it was fine. this spring it’s full of beautiful pink flowers I’m so happy
Good news, Robyn!
and I’ve been trying for three years to get a wurtz or little cado.
with freezes etc I haven’t found one. I really need a true dwarf
Why haven’t you found one? Wertz (or Little Cado) are available at many nurseries, even Home Depots in Southern California. Holidays are commonly available too, and they are the dwarfiest avocados I know of. Can I try to help you locate a good avocado for your situation? Everybody in Southern California needs an avocado tree!
Just planted a Wurtz … Little Cado in Ojai, Ca. …
I don’t have much room … a bit of a gamble as I’d never tried this avacado fruit …
How do the fruits compare to Hass ?
Thanks for all you do btw … awesome info !!
I guess I have a rootstock cause I see two trunks. The tangerine tree is in a pot and about 6 ft tall. Can I take out the rootstock trunk and how can I tell which one to take out..
What about Washington orange? Is that a cold tolerant variety? (BTW, one tip I read for cold weather protection is to string white “Christmas lights” on the tree. That may prove tricky to do, however, because they have to be standard incandescent lights, not the LED type.)
I live in Zone 9. Here in the foothills of the high desert, we have both cold weather and hot weather here. I planted a dwarf Washington back in the early Spring because it is supposedly among the more cold-resistant citrus varieties. After doing well for the first six weeks it began to exhibit leaf curl, which I presume is mostly sun and wind-burn related. This curled-leaf appearance for the past six weeks is making it tricky to understand whether I’ve been over- or under watering. (I know it’s the wrong approach but out of confusion I tend to give it more frequent but less deep waterings.)
My concern heading into the summer is that my tree, which is less than 3′ high, is too young to have much of a canopy. Should I rig some sort of shade for it? Is there any kind of “sun netting” I can buy? We’re just getting started with the Summer weather and the temps could peak at ~108 this August.
Your young tree might like some light shade this first summer, but it probably isn’t necessary. Citrus can handle intense sun; it is grown commercially in hot desert locations like Borrego Springs.
The only sure way to know if you’re watering too much or too little is to feel the soil where the tree’s roots are. Feel it right after watering so you know what wet soil feels like, and then don’t water again until it feels drier than that.
Helpful also is to watch the leaves. If they curl up like a taco shell, then they’re thirsty . . . BUT you should also see that the leaf shape changes after you’ve watered. If you don’t see a leaf shape change, then the leaf curl you’re seeing is not related to lack of water. (Lots of things make citrus leaves curl in different ways.)
Do you fertilize your citrus trees? Every resource I look at says to fertilize it, but I think I remember reading that you never fertilize your trees but instead you mulch them. Is that the case with your citrus trees as well? They look great!
Hi Matt,
That’s true: I don’t fertilize my fruit trees, including citrus, but I do try to keep a layer of mulch a couple inches thick at all times. (The mulch is in need of replenishment on some trees right now, as it happens.)
My citrus trees fruit well, and they look pretty good although the citrus trees of some of my friends who fertilize look deeper green certain times of the year and tend to grow faster. I’m fine with that. I want fruit not leaves. And my trees give me plenty of fruit.
I have a couple guesses on why almost every resource says to fertilize your citrus trees. One is tradition, habit. They’ve never tried NOT fertilizing, especially in conjunction with mulching.
Two is that they sell fertilizer. Ask at most nurseries how to make sure your citrus tree is healthy and fruits more, and they’ll almost certainly recommend some kind of fertilizer product. They’re not evil, it’s just how they make money, and most customers like the idea of being able to buy a simple solution in a container. It’s like when you go to a doctor and get a prescription. That makes many people feel better than being told to rest and drink plenty of water.
Wow wow wow! I’m getting excited now so its time to stop reading your blogs and get ready for church! I have been praying for direction with my trees and all my planting growing projects and here you are! Thank you for sharing and I will be reading more later! I commented on your most current blog a few minutes ago but I found your blog through my san diefo avocado growers group on Facebook. I will ask again…and appreciate any options you have…do you do home visits?
Blessings over you and your family
Alright thanks, I am gonna skip fertilizing and keep the mulch program going.
By the way, do citrus trees bloom at different times of the year, or just spring? I have an established Valencia orange tree that took extensive damage last fall. I pruned the broken branches and fertilized it in early spring this year and it put on a ton of new vegetative growth, and I was wondering if it would flower later in the summer.
Most citrus bloom only in spring, but a few have smaller blooms at other times, such as the Bearss lime.
Also, if a citrus tree has been stressed and then recovers, it sometimes blooms. For example, if it hasn’t been watered enough but then gets watered it may bloom. Usually in that case, the flowers won’t set fruit though. So it’s possible that your Valencia will do a strange late bloom, but I’d be surprised if it set fruit. Let us know what happens.
Fingers crossed, I will let you know if it blooms. I am just glad it recovered.
Thank you so much fo your amazing, informative blogs! I learned that I should not have let my new orange tree fruit during it’s first year last year. This year, we have no flowers at all. Is there anything I can do?
Hi Barbara,
I don’t think it’s a rule to not let a first-year citrus tree fruit. Sometimes I do and the tree does fine. But it’s true that a new tree will usually grow more canopy if it’s not trying to grow those first few fruits. That way it’s more likely to provide a bigger crop in its second or third year.
Your orange tree might still flower. Some of my citrus trees are just starting to show flower buds here in late April even though others are already finished flowering. Don’t give up hope on that yet.
If you end up without flowers this spring, there’s nothing you can do except look forward to a likely heavy flowering next spring. Usually, if an orange tree has a light (or empty) year, it will be followed by a heavy crop year.
HELP! North Port FL; My sister has 3 citrus. One Ponderosa; One ? smells like lime; One Myers Lemon. The one that smells like limes has never produced fruit in the 7 yrs that she has lived here. Any suggestions? Her Lemon has just started to produce after 3 yrs., until hurricane hit. Not producing. Are we trimming too late or early? This is a winter home for her. usually gets here in October leaves end of April. Appreciate any suggestions. Thank You
Hi Sandra,
I don’t know the differences in flowering habits of citrus in Florida compared to California, but a sure way to not prune off flowers is to prune while the tree is flowering.
For example, I often do some pruning of my citrus trees in March or April here in Southern California because at that time I can see where the flowers are and how much potential fruit I’m cutting off.
Hope this helps.
Hi Greg, I have mandarin orange that has been in my greenhouse for abot 3 years. It produced 3 good sized oranges last year. I took it out of the green house and staked it. The truck is long and skinny the branches almost look vines with lots of fruit. Should I takes some fruit off. It’s going to be too heavy. Is normal to look lime this?
Hi Peggy,
Usually mandarins don’t need to have their fruit thinned because their branches are very flexible, but there are exceptional cases. Maybe your tree is one. Since you know how big your particular mandarin fruit will get, you can make the best judgement on whether they’ll likely snap the branch or expose it to sunburn.
Some varieties tend to have longer branches like vines. My Owari Satsuma is like this; but my Gold Nugget is not.
How long after a light pruning for shape control done in late fall will the citrus likely begin to bloom and resume producing fruit? Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Hi Bruce,
A light pruning in the fall should not prevent the tree from flowering here in the spring although any pruning any time will reduce the amount of bloom and fruit production somewhat.
If your citrus tree hasn’t bloomed this spring, it’s possible there are other factors involved beyond your pruning. For example, citrus trees can have very light bloom and fruit production after a year of heavy bloom and fruit production. My Valencia orange tree did this last year.
Hi Greg, so great to get some sensible advice on citrus. I’ll stop doing the open interior pruning. I live in Northern CA near San Mateo. I’d like to plant a tree along the same row as some of my citrus, against a fence. I’ve considered ornamentals and fruit, but I need something that will grow up and provide screening FAST, so I think that citrus (such as a navel orange) might be too slow. But then I thought about avocado. We love to eat them of course, and Fuerte is a favorite. I understand that it is also self fertile. I’m looking for: excellent fruit; fast growth, ideally in the shape of your Valencia, rather than stick-like (I’ve heard that either Bacon or Reed is very erect), to provide good screening from our neighbor’s house; attractive and evergreen appearance; and suitable for my climate. Any thoughts on Good avocado or citrus (or other) choices to meet my needs?
Hi Susan,
Some citrus trees on standard rootstocks can grow pretty fast, but not quite as fast as some avocados. Both are definitely useful as edible, evergreen screens: my driveway is lined with citrus and avocados, and they look pleasing all year. There is also something to eat on one of those trees all year.
Some avocados tend to grow more vertically, like Bacon and Reed, whereas some grow more horizontally, like Fuerte. However, you can direct the growth of most varieties with a bit of pruning. My Reed, for example, has a spreading canopy because of the way I’ve encouraged it to grow through a few pruning cuts.
Citrus almost all naturally grow in the globular shape that you seem to desire. So there would be no pruning work there.
Hello, I want my lime tree to stay at a certain height, can I prune the top off. It’s a large branch. It’s getting too tall, over eight ft. If yes when is the best time.
Hi Mary,
Yes, you can prune off that branch on your lime tree. Doing it any time outside of summer is best for a large branch just to avoid sunburn. Likely, you’ll be exposing some lower branches to sun when you cut out a large upper branch. Paint any exposed branches with white latex paint mixed 50/50 with water to sunscreen their bark.
Alternatively, if you prune in late February, it’s likely that new growth will soon fill in fast and you won’t need to do any painting.
Hello, Greg!
I have a Valencia orange tree just like yours. I am located in Santa Monica, California. My tree is at least 30 years old, seedless, super juicy, and SUPER TALL like yours…. I love the tree but I will not be able/should not risk to climbing up the tree to harvest the oranges because I am getting older…………The tree is wedged between my carport and my neighbor’s fence. I considered to get rid of the tree but it would be such a waste. The tree grew up and I never thought of trimming it to maintain the size. My preference would be to grow old with the tree. Would the tree grow back if I cut half of the tree to 5 feet tall, meaning to bare large branches? And then proceed downsizing the rest of the branches a year later? Or do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for your wonderful blog! I look forward to it every Friday.
Hi Wai Ling Chow,
Sorry this reply and this week’s post didn’t get to you until Saturday. Thanks for writing.
I have a couple of ideas for your Valencia tree situation. Instead of climbing the tree or using a ladder, you can pick the fruit with a pole picker. That’s how I pick my Valencias. I never climb the tree or a ladder. I’ve made my own pole picker that can extend about 30 feet. I bought a fruit picker basket and attached it to an extendable painter’s pole. It’s not so easy to pick the fruit that is 25 feet up there because the pole gets heavy and unwieldy when it’s fully extended, but it gets the job done.
I have limited experience drastically reducing the size of large citrus trees, but when I have done it, I’ve done it over the period of a few years — a couple feet cut off each year — and I’ve painted white the newly exposed branches because they will sunburn. It is possible.
But be aware that the tree will explode with growth each year and try to get back to its 30-foot height. If at all possible, I’d leave the top unpruned and find the easiest possible way to pick the fruit safely.
Thank you, Greg!!!
Hello.
We have a young pomelo tree (planted last spring) and it really shot up this summer. The main center branch has gotten really tall. Is it advisable to top it at this time so we can begin shaping the tree? Also, side branches should be cut back as well? Side branches have also gotten long and not very sturdy.
Any advise is appreciated.
We live in Southern California , inland empire.
Hi Sonia,
I’ve just been thinking similarly about a couple of my young citrus trees. Here in the fall, the consideration about whether to prune citrus mostly depends on the likelihood of damaging cold weather this winter.
If it often gets cold enough to damage citrus trees where you live, then I’d wait until spring to prune. The Inland Empire is mostly warm enough not to worry about that, but you know your yard and its microclimate. If you pruned now, then a freeze hit this winter, the tree would incur more damage. It is the outer branches (the ones you hypothetically pruned off) that protect inner branches and take the brunt of the cold first.
Safest bet? Wait until March to prune. Then go ahead and cut back that center top branch as well as the side branches.
My Satsuma trees only produce fruit from the bottom half of the trees down. They are healthy fruit and sweet and juicy however. It’s just that there is NO fruit on the top half of the tree. The trees are 6 years old, 10 feet tall but only set fruit for the first 5 feet. I’m in South Louisiana.
Thank you.
Hi Gregory,
That’s curious. Do you prune the tops ever? Does it also not flower in the top half or just not set fruit?
My lemon tree growing out long stems look like long vines. Should I trim them back. Very long. Thanks.
Hi Eva,
Lemons are famous for their “wild hairs.” You don’t have to trim them back, but you certainly can any time you want.
Hello. My mother’s neighbor has a mandarin tree with the most delicious mandarins with thin peels – like cuties, but much sweeter and more delicious. I have taken branches along with the fruit to Armstrong Nurseries to try to find out what type it is so I can plant as well and no one has been able to identify. What suggestions do you have in the effort to identify and plant it myself.
Hi Aram,
Tough situation. To identify the mandarin, you can refer to the variety descriptions and photos on the website for the Citrus Variety Collection of the University of California, Riverside. Here’s the link to the page for different types of mandarins. Some elements that will help you narrow the options include when it tastes sweet (harvest season), whether it ever has seeds and how many, fruit shape and size, peel thickness and ease of peeling.
Also consider how old the tree might be. If it’s less than ten years old, then it could be one of the more recently released varieties in California like Kishu or USDA 88-2. But if it’s an old and large tree, then it’s more likely an older variety like Dancy or a clementine.
Does your mother’s neighbor know where the tree was purchased? If so, go there to ask where they buy their citrus trees from (or where they did when this tree was bought). If you can figure out who the wholesale grower was, you could contact them and they’d probably be able to help identify it.
Another option is to take some photos and post them on the citrus forum at Tropical Fruit Forum. Citrus aficionados there might be able to help identify it.
You could send some photos to me and I’d do my best, but it’s unlikely I could positively name it. More likely I could at least rule some varieties out for you. (There are so many mandarins that have been grown in California over the years, and I’m no mandarin variety expert.)
Finally, since you want to grow this variety yourself you could make your own tree. The surest way to get the exact tree you want would be to take a bud from your mother’s neighbor’s tree and graft it onto a tree in your yard. Citrus budding is not very difficult as far as grafting goes. I’ve even done it!
Here is a document to guide you in that process: Budding and Grafting Citrus and Avocados. Also have a look at videos on YouTube by Fruit Mentor.
Best of luck!
Hi Greg,
Here’s my citrus situation. I’ve had a lime I ignored for 4 years that produced 1 lime last summer. Nothing since. Six months ago, received a new Meyer lemon that has lots of lemons but only 1 mature enough to pick. Nothing since. Yesterday, planted a new 15 gallon Valencia with lots of fruit. Several experts say to cut off the new fruit so the trunks can grow well, to fertilize, water differently and mulch. We just put mulch down and changed the watering to circle the roots (it was a drip at the trunks). I’m at a loss as to what to do for the 4yo lime, the 6mo old lemon and the brand new orange tree. Is it the soil, the slope, me? I’m new to this, as I’ve mentioned in other posts. 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
Bummer. You should definitely be getting more from that four-year-old lime tree. Maybe thin fruit from that Valencia, maybe not. Send me photos so I can see the trees.
It is helpful for the trees to receive their water away from the trunk once they’ve been in the ground for at least six months or so. Trees prefer to grow their small roots, from which they drink, away from the trunk.
I will email you the pics. Thanks so much!
Hi Greg, not sure if you are checking here, but I’ll try. I have mixed variety citrus hedge- Bearss lime, tangelo, variegated lemon and Kishu mandarin. It’s next to my urban driveway. It’s so dense we have a hard time seeing when pulling out of the driveway. Would it be possible to slightly thin the trees without doing too much damage? Thanks!
Hi Maia,
All comments get to me instantly, no matter which post they’re attached to. It’s just that sometimes it takes me a while to reply.
Without seeing your trees, I’d guess that yes, you can safely do some pruning. Citrus take very well to pruning, especially this time of year. Do it sooner rather than later so the trees immediately fill in with leftover spring growth. If you do it in summer, there’s more risk of branches getting sunburn.
As reference, I too have citrus along my driveway and some are big enough to need pruning. At least once a year, I trim them back to the size I want. Doesn’t bother them at all.
This is preferable, though, to doing a dramatic pruning every couple years (which you can get away with; it’s just riskier because of sunburn). If you need to cut yours back by more than a third, I’d do some now and then wait until next March to prune off the rest to get them back to the right size. Alternatively, do it all now and then paint exposed limbs with white latex.
Hi Greg,
About 30 years ago my mom bought and planted a “dwarf” navel orange. The thing as become HUGE! 25 feet tall maybe? Is there a way to at least bring it down 1/3 without hurting it?
Thanks,
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
Yes, you can. I wouldn’t do it here in mid summer. The best time is probably early spring. You can cut the full third off at once or cut incrementally over the course of a couple years. If you cut a lot off at once, you’ll want to paint any newly exposed branches with white latex so they don’t sunburn.
This kind of citrus pruning has been done many times. It’s very possible.
Hi Greg,
I just moved to the Coachella Valley and would love an Avocado tree in my backyard but a local nursery said it gets too hot here. What are your thoughts?
Thank you in advance.
Rich
Hi Rich,
It might be too hot in the Coachella Valley for an avocado tree in your yard, but it might not. First, let me say that I have no firsthand experience growing avocados there; I only know what I’ve read and heard others say. But I’m happy to pass along their words here.
Your interest in growing avocados there is not new, and there are examples to draw from. Back in 1935, J. Eliot Coit wrote about an avocado tree growing and producing lots of good fruit in the Coachella Valley. Read about that tree and the conditions it was growing in and how it was watered here: http://avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_20_1935/CAS_1935_PG_124.pdf
In 1959 there was another report on the testing of different avocado varieties in the Coachella Valley. It noted that Zutano produced some and Irving produced the best (but you’ll have a hard time finding that variety today). It also noted that trees growing in much shade looked good but didn’t fruit well. Read the 1959 report here: http://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_43_1959/CAS_1959_PG_31-32.pdf
So it certainly appears possible to grow avocado trees that produce in the Coachella Valley if certain conditions are met: right variety, right watering, location with low frost hazard, and maybe the right soil.
It also looks like in some years an avocado tree there will drop all of its fruit if a heatwave hits early in the year (May or June). A lot of forgiveness and low expectations might be needed, but apparently a fruitful avocado tree in the Coachella Valley is possible.
All of that is what I’ve read and heard. I do have experience growing avocado trees in a somewhat milder and more humid location, but one that goes through triple digit heat numerous times in a summer and reached 117 out in the open last July. (I’m in Ramona, San Diego County.) In case it might help, my best thoughts on how to manage avocados during heat is in this post: “Protecting avocado trees from heat.”
I just read your article and, oh dear, I just pruned the heck out of my beautiful, green-fruit-laden Meyer lemon tree! It is expected to be in the high 90’s all week here in Los Angeles. Should I cover the tree to protect it from sunburn? Help!
Hi Sally,
If branches are now seeing sunlight, in other words, no longer under the shade of leaves, then I would paint them with white latex to be safe.
Just to clarify,, this would be water-based so that it will wash off eventually, right?
Yes, but it won’t wash off although it will eventually fade somewhat as the tree grows. You can dilute it about 50/50 with water if you want; it will still be strong enough to protect the bark.
Thank you very much. I have covered the tree for today and will paint when i=
t=E2=80=99s a bit cooler. I just wish I had read your website before I hit d=
o carried away! I love this tree!
Thank you, Greg. For now, I have the tree covered with a green sheet to protect it during this really hot week. I will paint the branches as soon as I can tolerate the heat myself (I am 76!). While I have your attention, I also have a huge avocado tree. Three years ago we had a huge crop of them. Following that harvest, we had the tree trimmed and… we have not had any avocados since then, including this year. What can I do about that? The tree is quite old and very established, and it looks healthy. I live near Pasadena, CA. Thanks, Sally
Greg,
I attended your presentation at the Port of San Diego last week and during your talk, you mentioned trimming off any suckers that appear at the base of your citrus trees below the graft. This motivated me to check the trees in my backyard and I saw what I fear might be bad news.
We live in Lemon Grove and have owned our house for just over 2 1/2 years. We bought the house with both a lemon and an orange tree in our backyard. These trees had been poorly maintained prior to our owning the house. We have gopher problems and they haven’t received regular water.
When I went to look at the trees after your presentation last week, I noticed on the lemon tree that, if you were to imagine what a traditional lemon tree looks like with a single trunk, this one has a trunk that grows up roughly 3′ and then is cut off. The trunk is fairly established 4″-5″ diameter, but it’s been cut off. Lower on the tree there are several smaller “trunks” that seem to start from the very base of the tree and grow upward to a maximum height of about 6′. These multiple trunks do produce fruit, but it’s not all that great.
Since we don’t know the history of this tree, I don’t know where the graft union is/was, but can’t imagine that these multiple trunks the tree has now have started above that point. Based on what you presented last week regarding the grafting of all citrus trees and removing anything that grows/sprouts below the graft union, is there any value left in this tree? The fruit it produces isn’t bumpy at all, but since all these trunks start basically at the ground, I’m concerned.
The orange tree we have is very similar. It’s upwards of 8′ tall, but has 4-5 small trunks coming out of the very base of the tree and there isn’t a single main trunk at all. Like with the lemon tree, there’s no way these trunks originated above the graft union. I’m way out of my league in this, but it seems to me that both these trees are only producing fruit from whatever variety of tree the root ball came from rather than from whatever was grafted in. I’m wondering if these trees have experienced what you described last week where, if left unattended, the suckers will continue to grow and essentially kill off the main part of the tree and that’s why we’re left with what appears to be a dead/non-existent center of the tree and only have what now appear to be well established, but undesirable suckers?
We’re in the process of having the yard re-landscaped/re-irrigated and adding some additional fruit trees. I am wondering if we should wait and see what happens with these two trees once they start to receive regular water and we battle the gophers with your recommended cinch traps, or if based on what I’ve described, it’s apparent that they’re both lost causes?
Thanks!
Matt
Hi Matt,
I sure had fun speaking with you guys at the Port. What you’ve described is a classic citrus rootstock sucker scene.
I’d say that if you like the fruit coming from that (former?) lemon tree, then do nothing. Otherwise, plan to cut it down and replace it.
How is the fruit on the orange tree? Have you had any yet? If they tasted like good oranges, then they’re certainly not from rootstock. Sometimes the graft union on an older tree ends up buried after years of mulch or some nearby landscaping projects. Yet, usually orange trees don’t have multiple trunks of the scion variety. Multiple trunks is always a hint that you’re likely looking at rootstock.
Greg,
The orange tree has not ever produced any edible fruit. The oranges will get to the size of a ping pong ball and then drop. I also noticed when looking at both the lemon tree and the orange tree that the “branches” on them are covered in near 2″ long thorns. You mentioned in your talk that the rootstock shooters will be extraordinarily thorny and that’s what both of these trees appear to be.
It sounds like we’re our best bet will be to see if we like the fruit these trees produce (not likely) and if we don’t, they’ll come out and be replaced with something that will be better cared for and produce delicious fruit.
Thanks again for visiting the Port and for the help here!
Matt
Hi Matt,
You’re on target. I agree with everything you’ve said here.
Hi Greg,
I live in nyc and believe I have three 10 year old mandarin trees growing in one large pot. They were planted from seeds and go indoors for the winter. They have never produced flowers or fruit.
Can I send photos for your advise?
I am debating if I should cut the two smaller plants down or prune them.
I have 3 Satsuma Mandarin trees. They are several years old, but this year I only have fruit on one. ?? They all seem healthy, however I’m getting some curly leaves that started on my Meyer lemon tree, that is loaded with fruit.
What can I do? I’m in San Jose, CA.
Hi Cathy,
It might be that your other two Satsuma trees are just having a rest year. Mandarin trees do that sometimes. Expect lots of fruit from them next year.
You might want to uncurl a leaf on your Meyer lemon to see if there are insects inside. Sometimes aphids do this to citrus leaves.
Hi Greg,
I am happy to have found your site as I also live in North County inland. Thanks for the tips on the suckers. We have several citrus trees and also only prune minimally to control size. When we first planted our satsuma mandarin, the first several years that we had fruit it was terrible – mealy and tasteless. It was such a letdown as my dad’s satsumas were amazing and juicy. We tried everything we could think of, adjusting water and fertilizer, and thought we just got a dud tree. My husband very reluctantly decided to dig it up one year and replace it. He dug all around the roots to loosen them and then got super busy and never completed the job. Oh well, after the new fruit had set, we decided to just wait til after the fruiting cycle to complete the job. Lo and behold, the fruit tasted really good that year and wasn’t mealy at all!! I later read somewhere that sometimes when the roots of fruit trees get very compacted with clay soil, it can cause bad fruit, and the solution is to aerate the soil and then keep it well mulched. The mulch encourages worm activity which also helps to keep it aerated. We apparently didn’t add enough organic matter to the clay soil when we planted that one. We’ve had good fruit ever since, and whenever we get mealy fruit now, we know to aerate the soil and amend with more mulch. We are so so thankful we didn’t dig up that tree – it has become one of our favorites! We learn so much through trial and error. Thought someone might benefit from our accidental solution.
Hi Eniko,
Thanks for sharing that. Funny enough, my young Satsuma tree still doesn’t have very good fruit although this year is better than previous years. You’ve reminded me to give it another few years to improve. Mandarin trees are well known to have better fruit as they age. I once wrote a post about being cautious to judge a tree by its first fruits: “Don’t judge a tree by its first fruit.”
As for the effect of compacted soil, I’ve never heard about this one, but I’ll keep it in mind. Keep enjoying those Satsumas this time of year!
Gregg, my lemon tree has the bark peeling off in two of its branches. It produces lots of fruit so I am not sure what problem could be. My exterminator said that some times this means my tree is dying due to worms or termites that live under ground.
Do you have any ideas of what the cause might be?
Hi Evelyn,
Most often, bark peels on citrus because it has been sunburned. This usually happens to bark that is facing south, west, or is horizontal (so it faces up toward the noon sun). Does this describe your situation?
Hi Greg, Just letting you know I love your post and the approach it reflects:
“Handing Cass the pruners”
“feels like a living room” (Our trees are small, so it is a living room for our cat. I did, however, build a platform between the branches of two plum trees.)
“don’t prune citrus”
“change your aesthetic sensibility”
Ranjeet
Thanks, Ranjeet. We’re having fun over here too!
Regarding lopping off growth from rootstock: I had these strange citrus fruit growing on the Mandarin orange tree – tasted sour like limes with more than a hint of bitterness, shaped like limes not lemons, green with yellow flesh when unripe and turning to orange-yellow outside and bright orange inside when ripe. They never sweetened. Incredibly fragrant when I cut them open. The leaves were different, they fruited later in the spring than the mandarins and the branches had a high density of incredibly long thorns.
They were too bitter to use as limes, but I started making “salt and sunlight pickle” base out of them, after the limes are pickled you add chopped up vegetables and pickle them again for a bit, with green chillies, red chili powder garlic ginger etc.
A friend of mine solved the mystery – I am sure you can guess – they were Rangpur limes, common as rootstock and used as a bitter in drinks. They go great with mezcal.
Sadly, in a fit of pruning madness before I read your post, I unintentionally cut that branch off.
Ranjeet
Hi Ranjeet,
You are most enterprising with rootstock suckers! And you’re the first I’ve heard to regret accidentally them cutting off!
Now a real question.
I have a 10′ tall citrus that produces navel oranges and another type of orange. For the last 10 years, since we moved to this rented house, it has always produced bountiful fruit, more than we can consume, so we make marmalade and give away both fruit and marmalade. The fruit start ripening my mid December and it starts flowering and fuiting in late winter (we live near San Jose), around mid-Feb, well before all the previous seasons fruit has been consumed (I leave the oranges on the tree until we are ready to consume them in a day or two. The blossoms are invigoratingly fragrant and in winter before heading to work I step outside to inhale the scent and greet the sun.
This year, the tree has flowered late and very little. I can’t find a pattern between branches with or without fruit still on them nor between new and old growth, nor between with or without aphids. I haven’t changed how I water it (grey water from the kitchen) or provide nutrients (kitchen scraps), though it is true I did not put in those citrus spikes for the last two years. Amount of shade hasn’t changed, the apricot tree next to it is doing well as is the mandarin tree nearby.
Any idea what might be going on and suggestions for what I should do?
Ranjeet
Hi Ranjeet,
It so happens that my large Valencia orange tree is acting similarly to your orange tree this spring. This minimal flowering has occurred in the past after years with abundant flowering and fruitset. It’s like the tree just takes a year of rest every now and then. Although sometimes it has lots of fruit two years in a row, it never has had a small crop two years in a row.
I suspect and hope that this is what is happening with your tree. As long as the foliage looks healthy and normal, then I would just count it as an unavoidable natural cyclical thing (alternate or biennial bearing, they call it). You’ll probably get lots of bloom and oranges next year.
Some citrus growers prune their trees in the “on” year in order to reduce the fruit load and encourage the tree to even out its bearing. You could try this if you want (next year, assuming you get a heavy bloom and fruitset then).
Hi,
I have a walnut tree that gives lots of walnuts every year but I am not benefiting from it because squirrels eat all of them before they are fully ripped. I have tried many ways to deter them to no avail. Any suggestion or solution?
Hi Zahra,
I feel for you! Squirrels are tough to manage. Check out my post here for ideas: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/dealing-with-squirrels-in-a-food-garden/
Hi,
What kind of mulch is good for citrus, avocado, and other fruit trees?
Hi Zahra,
My favorite is wood chips. Other materials such as leaves or straw or compost are good too, but my favorite is wood chips. Check out details on that in my post here: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/using-wood-chips-as-mulch-for-fruit-trees/
Hi greg
I have just bought a dwarf lemon tree and it had two branches that are of the same size branching out from the trunk in a Y shape. How do i identify which branch is the graft union pls ty
Hi.
I have a lime tree (I’m pretty sure it is a lime tree anyway) that seems healthy and green and continues to grow taller and wider but it produces only a few flowers and they die off pretty quickly. It does get good sun but is in a shadow of a large tree a few hours a day. I do have some tall grass around which I know isn’t ideal. But, again, it seems green and healthy. Why won’t it produce any flowers – or fruit for that matter. Help!
Hi Scott,
My first concern is this: Might it be rootstock rather than a lime? See this post: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/beware-of-rootstock-suckers-on-citrus-trees/
Hi Greg. I’m learning so much from you and am grateful. Unfortunately, I heavily pruned my two dwarf Meyers before finding you and reading your article here. Whether it’s related or not, both trees have something going on. Leaf miners perhaps. There are curled leaves, many of which have spiders in them. And so many shiny veneered-looking damaged leaves (I have photos). Any idea what’s up? Thank you!
Hi Tracy,
What you describe does sound like leafminers. I have a lot of their damage on some of my citrus trees right now too. It’s that time of year.
Here’s a post with some more info on leafminers: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/dont-spray-for-citrus-leafminers/
Hello Greg,
Last year I planted a seed from regular lemon and it grew into a small tree. It is now one year old and about two feet tall and it looks very healthy. Big green leaves. My issue is that my tree keeps growing leaves on the top but it doesn’t grow any lateral branches.
Is this normal? Is it going to start growing branches at some point? Can I, or should I, do something to force it to grow branches?
I would like to have them on my tree because at some point I am planning to graft a better fruit on it. I was told that trees grown from seeds normally do not produce anything good.
I tried to find some information on YouTube but I am not getting good answers. People make all kinds of suggestions, putting urine in the soil, bending the tree, notching the nodes, cutting off the top. Those are all partial answers and some of them don’t sound good to me. Also, those answers always refer to a big grown in the ground. Mine is only two feet tall and it is growing in a pot.
Can you give me some suggestions, please? It is greatly appreciated.
-Jacob
Hi Jacob,
If you only want to use this seedling for rootstock, then I wouldn’t bother inducing side branches. It would be easiest to just bud onto the trunk, and then after the bud heals, you’ll bend the branch above the bud to get the bud to grow. Ultimately, you’ll cut off everything above your bud.
But if you want it to make side branches, a sure way is to just cut it off at the height where you want the side branches to start. The buds right below your cut will “break” and start growing — and they’ll grow at least somewhat less vertically.
The truth is though, seedlings of all types of trees usually grow very upright in their first few years before the start to branch out much. That’s their natural form. Once they carry some fruit their branches start to spread more horizontally under the weight of the fruit.
Hey Greg,
I rescued a grapefruit tree from the office trash a couple years ago and have been keeping it alive in a container. Indoors in the winter here in Utah with a grow light and outdoors in the summer. It’s always been very skeletal, with very few leaves on the ends, but blooms once or twice a year and adds a couple leaves. Is there any way to help it develop more leaves? It’s been dropping the same amount as it’s producing each time due to sunburn in the summer.
Thanks!
Hi Casey,
I don’t have a lot of experience with citrus in containers and indoors like yours, but I do know that other citrus trees often drop leaves when they are overwatered, especially if they are not in enough sunlight while being watered too much. Citrus trees are in heaven in all day sun and with a moderate amount of water.
Hi Greg, great site! I have a 2 year old grafted Meyer lemon that has a huge bulge in the root right below the soil line. This lump is sort of a solid ball shape that’s thicker than the tree trunk. Should I cut it out, even if I could risk exposing roots to the air, or damaging the root system? Should I repot the tree in a bigger container? The tree looks good and flowered, but didn’t grow that much bigger this past summer, despite being in near constant sun w plenty of water. Could this root bulb be the problem?
Thanks!
Christina
Hi Christina,
Thanks! I’ve had three young citrus trees with a bulge at the base of the trunk like you describe. I’m not certain what causes it. I’ve suspected it is a kink that formed from the young tree’s roots being restricted in a container that was too small for too long. What I do know is that all of the trees that I have had with this issue have grown more slowly than others. I ultimately removed two of the trees and replaced them. One I still have growing, inching along. It’s a USDA 88-2 mandarin tree, which is not widely available.
For your Meyer lemon, I would just replace it since Meyer lemon trees are so widely available. If the swollen section of root is not attached to the base of the trunk, then you could try to cut it out first. If not, I don’t think it would be possible to cut it out with killing the tree.
Hi Greg,
As I’ve said before on other comments, thank you for this site. It’s fantastic and it’s all very doable for the general homeowner who doesn’t have a whole orchard.
I have a tangerine tree in my yard. I’m pretty sure it’s a dancy. When it bears fruit, it weighs the branches down significantly and in the past has actually broken branches. Last year I pruned pretty liberally and even cut some branches, and this year it still bore tons of fruit, but the branches are still weighing down and drooping branches are exposing the interior of the tree to sun. Should I worry about this? My concern is that it will either break more branches or the branches will strengthen low to the ground and it makes it tough getting inside the canopy and continuing to expose the interior. The photo in the link shows some of the droopy branches, as well as one area that has grown up and strengthened vertically because it didn’t have any fruit this year. Would you recommend another significant pruning session and maybe even sacrificing a year of fruit to give the new branches time to strengthen (the fruit tends to grow a lot on new branches) or something else? Thank you.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7UJ1EFSRyY7sRQDm7
Hi Greg, thank you for posting so much useful information.
I have a young yuzu maybe about 2 yrs old (container) that has a competing branch, is this something I need to cut back? I know for regular trees I would but with citrus being kinda shrubby I am not sure what to do.
My dwarf valencia orange tree has produced some oranges that are cellularly damaged. When I cut into them, the fruit looks crystalized and the taste is off. Looking at the rind, it is impossible to tell which piece of fruit will be healthy and which will be uneditable. All of the oranges are deep orange and the same size. Do you know what might be causing this?
Hi Sheri,
A possibility is that you are eating last year’s crop. Especially in mild coastal locations, oranges will continue to hang on the tree far past the time that they taste good.
Valencia oranges usually don’t taste good until about May or June, and then they taste good through summer and a bit into fall. However, any Valencia oranges on a tree here in April are either immature or old and from last year’s crop.
For this reason, in the fall I strip all of the remaining fruit on my Valencia so that I don’t get it confused with the next year’s crop (my tree is large so we can’t eat all of the fruit some years).
Hi Greg,
I have a couple dwarf citrus trees that have been around for years. They haven’t borne fruit in some time, but they still flower. Any idea why this is? Any tips how I can get them back to giving fruit regularly?
Hi Beejal,
What varieties are they? Here are some ideas to consider: Does the foliage look full and healthy? I have a couple mandarin trees that are in a part of my yard with shallow, rocky soil and they have grown slowly, the foliage has some yellow mottling, and they flower a bit but set very little fruit. I have been adding lots of compost and mulch under the canopy in the last year or so and finally this year the leaves are looking better (although not perfect), the trees are flowering more, and it’s looking like I’ll actually get some fruit holding.
Too much or too little watering can affect fruitset. I have some old citrus trees that rarely if ever get watered. Sometimes if I do give one a deep watering it will put forth a heavy bloom but the ensuing fruitlets always drop and never hold until maturity. Might your trees get too much or too little water, especially during spring and early summer?
Greg, my wonderful “cuties” tree and blood orange tree were badly affected by the big freeze here in east Texas this last winter. All the leaves turned brown and fell off. My hubby cut off a small branch and it appears to be dead. It is a very mature tree. Is it truly dead ? I’m wondering if/how to prune the dead branches off so it will come back ?
Hi Liz,
Sorry to hear about your trees. The extent of the damage after a severe freeze can be hard to judge. You have to wait for the tree to show you. If there’s still life remaining, then spring leaves will grow. Sometimes they only grow from very low, even below the graft union.
Only once those spring leaves have become mature in early summer can you tell how far back the tree has been killed (probably, as trees still sometimes later collapse surprisingly). Then you know what is dead and what to prune out. Pruning before this is of no use to the tree, as it won’t stimulate it to recovery, even though it’s hard to look at that dead skeleton and be so patient for regrowth.
What is good to do immediately, however, is whitewash the branches so they don’t get sunburned. See here (the materials and principles are the same for avocados and citrus): https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
I have newly planted (about month) Dwarf Owari Satsuma Tree. Upon arrival there was new growth at top of tree about a ft long that is lighter green that is still floppy and lighter green. It does not seem to want to stand no matter what I do. Should I just prune that off so it can grow stronger new branches? Will they grow back?
Hi Tonifabrizio,
I wouldn’t prune it. Just accept it the way it wants to grow. Eventually, you’ll get new growth that fills in the empty (sunny) spaces. This might not even happen until next year, but it will happen.
Hi Greg, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your personalized responses to everyone’s questions. I have a similar question to Tonifabrizio above — I love satsumas, and a friend bought me a young dwarf Owari Satsuma from a nursery as a gift, but it’s not the tree I would have picked out for myself — it looks almost as if someone just stuck a branch into a pot and hoped for the best. It’s about 15″ tall with a *really* thin spindly trunk and even thinner branches, and all the leaves are big full-size leaves (no new growth) which make the spindly branches sag under their weight. As Tonifabrizio described, the branches don’t seem to want to hold up on their own at all. The leaves seem enormous for the spindly trunk and stemlike branches, which all just sort of end in bare stems. I noticed in reading the comments above that you mention your Owari satsuma has vinelike branches, which was reassuring, but I’m nervous about how thin and spindly it is, and I don’t see where it can begin to put on new growth. Is there a way I can give the branches better support and/or prune them back a bit to encourage new growth? Or is it totally fine and I’m over-thinking it?
Thanks and you’re welcome, Jay. You can stake your tree. Just tie the spindly, floppy growth to the stake. At every “axil” between a leaf and the stem there is a bud that can grow into new leaves and branches. Those buds will grow eventually. On your tree, I’d guess that you’ll see new growth by sometime in July since it sounds like the spring flush of growth is finished for now. I wouldn’t prune such a small tree.
Thanks so much, Greg! Will do as you suggest.
Hi Greg,
I have a year old Persian lime, It is constantly giving flower buds and not much leaf growth, do I need to trim the plant? how do I encourage more branches?
Hi Shweta,
I know of nothing you can do to encourage leaf growth over flower production except to make sure the tree is getting the water it needs. I wouldn’t prune it. My Bearss lime has just finally stopped flowering and it has also recently grown many new leaves. Hopefully your lime will soon.
Hi, thanks for the post about root stock suckers on a citrus tree – this is our problem and the tree is huge! Is it possible to save the ‘good part’ and get rid of the bad part, with the big thorns or do we have to get rid of the entire tree? If we were to manage to cut away all the root stock thorny brances, will the rest of it survive? We would have to split the trunk, is there anything we can put on the cut part so it will live? ANY advice would be appreicated. We live in South Australia, just going into our Autumn now, we would like to cut it next weekend. We were told it also has gall wasps in it.
Kind regards, Judith
Hello,
We recently had to move our Lemon Tree (the previous owner told me its a Meyer Lemon). It has completely lost all its leaves and appears dead but a lot of branches still have green when you scrape the bark off tho some are dead. Would it be a bad idea to prune it now? And how hard can i prune it if so?
Sorry ment to mention we are in the San Francisco East Bay area.
Hi Naomi,
If you can stand the ugly look, I wouldn’t prune anything until seeing where the tree leafs out. I would, however, paint the branches to protect them from sunburn, as is done on avocados: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
I am so confused as to when and how much to water my citrus trees, leaves are curling with dark veins showing on the yellow leaves, some branches are dried up dead. In the summer heat here in so-cal, what do I do?! I have read that that need more water and also have read as well as bing told that they like to just be left along and ignored. Please Help!!
would love to have someone come to my yard and take a look;)
Since we are in quarantine for buying citrus in Orange County the only Bearss Lime I can find (in San Diego) is a standard. Is it possible to keep a standard pruned to keep it at 8 feet? I really wanted a dwarf. Thank you
Hi Robin,
That is certainly possible. The tree labeled standard might even be on the same rootstock as trees labeled dwarf. The height of any citrus tree is primarily under your control.
See more about this here: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/dwarf-semi-dwarf-and-standard-citrus-trees-what-are-they-really/
I moved into an old house with two orange trees and a lemon tree, one of the orange trees had termites in it? I water them twice a week and move the soil around them once a month. The fruit on all the trees comes out but some of the fruit cracks open and falls off b4 its ready. I have been feeding them vitamins and compost leftovers from the fruits themselves.
Am I doing something wrong?
Regards.
I have a lot of very small fruit. I was told that trimming the tree will reduce the number of fruit will increase the size. Is this correct?
Thanks.
Hi Kevin,
Kind of. Fewer fruit on a tree does result in slightly larger fruit, all other things being equal.
However, trimming down the size of a tree won’t get you bigger fruit because when you reduce the size of a tree you also reduce the number of leaves that are powering the tree and the growth of the fruit on the tree. If you want bigger citrus fruit, you must reduce the number of fruit on the tree, and you must make sure the tree gets enough water. (Underwatered citrus trees have smaller fruit.)
Make sure you have realistic expectations of your tree’s fruit size though. What kind is it? Certain varieties have smaller fruit than others no matter how you treat the tree.
My citrus trees have become badly infested with citrus black fly.
I am struggling to deal with it.
Have you any suggestions.
I am in Southern Italy.
Hi Lorraine,
I’m grateful to be able to say that I’m not familiar with citrus blackfly because I’ve never encountered it in California. But apparently it is a pest on citrus trees in Florida. Here is some information from there that might help: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/citrus_blackfly.htm
Oh man. I had a wonderful mejer citrus tree/bush that was going CRAZY at about 5 feet tall. I’m new to pruning and chopped the heck out of it. Probably took out at least 70% of it so it looks kind of like an exposed tree with some basic foilage.I at least did not top it or anything, but a couple of the lower key branches are hacked.
It still seems to be alive, and luckily we are still in winter here in Northern CA ( Santa Rosa), but I worry that the foliage won’t grow back quick enough to protect for the upcoming months. Any tips on how to save this thing or protect it? Is it possible to grow back enough foilage in the next few months to not worry so much? I feel so bad. It was such a great little tree that gave a ton of fruit to us and is pretty well established.
Thanks for all the help here. Great little blog.
Came across your blog while trying to determine what to prune on my Valencia orange tree. First, I did not want to thin the tree because our pigs live under the tree and use it for shade all year long (we’re in central CA). But, the tree is about 40ft tall, and the fruit produced is AWFUL. We have a mandarin tree fairly close and that fruit is very good. In fact, the pigs don’t really want the Valencias if there are mandarins left. They will turn up their snout.
Anyway, back to my dilemma. There are a lot of dead branches, but also a lot that are spliced together. I have no issue with clearing out the dead ones, but I’m not really sure how to address the ones where branches that are a couple inches across have grown together and then separated and then grown back together. Should I cut one part out, or just leave those alone?
One last question, I don’t like the tree hanging in my neighbor’s yard, is it a problem to sort of lob off that part to keep fruit from falling in their yard?
We’ve been in our house 8 years and the tree has never been trimmed, or pruned in that time. I appreciate any direction.
hey Greg, Can not find dwarf eureka lemon anyplace in southern florida, not even at wholesalers. So I wonder if a standard lemon tree can be maintained at 5 feet tall without looking weird. I have visions of branches growing 3 or 4 inches in diameter or larger and having to be cut . What do you think?
What about water suckers on citrus trees? I am new to citrus gardening. I have a lime that has multiple very fast growing branches growing straight up. Should I remove them or let them be?
Hi Karon,
I never remove them. You can if you want to keep your tree small though.
Hello! I live in San Diego County have a lemon tree that fruits continuously. The branches are so heavy with fruit that they touch the ground and often split and break. We have been bracing them with boards. Now I’m wondering if it would be better just to trim the fruit from the ends of the branches so that they are not so heavy and touching the ground and let the tree figure it out on its own going forward without all the bracing? What do you recommend?
Hi Kara,
Lemons do this for everyone. You can either remove some fruit from the branch ends or cut the branch ends back.
I prefer to cut the ends back, which gives the tree a more compact shape and prevents broken branches. You still get more lemons than you can use from the tree.
I have a 2 year old volunteer citrus tree (seedling). Is there a way to know what kind of fruit it will eventually yield?
Hi Randi,
Probably not, unless you know which fruit the seed came from. Do you?
We use a lot of citrus, especially lemons and tangerines, but also red grapefruit, oranges, and an occasional lime. The plant has spines just above each leaf, starting a little more than a foot above soil level.
Hi Greg! We bought a house with lots of citrus trees (yay) but they have some nasty rootstock problems (boo). I’ve been pruning the thorny suckers off of them (like twenty-foot-tall suckers in some cases) but I worry that too much pruning will kill the tree altogether. I seem to remember the general rule of thumb to never prune more than a third of the tree’s mass at one time, but I don’t know if that rule applies to citrus suckers. I’ve got one tree that’s complete rubbish, but the other ones still have good fruit on at least the main branch, so I *think* I can salvage them. Any tips would be great. Thanks!
Hi Alene,
You can prune more than a third of a citrus tree without killing it. I’ve cut numerous citrus trees to the ground and watched them regrow happily. However, when you do a lot of pruning, you must be on the lookout for branches that will get sunburned. See here for how to protect from sunburn: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/
Hi Greg, just discovered your site and it looks like it’s going to be my go-to for SoCal food gardening. I live in Encino and grow year-round vegetables, citrus, and vinifera (all Rhone varietals). Several of my citrus (Meyers lemon and orange) over the last two years have flowered magnificently in the early spring, and then lost their buds when they are very small. The soil definitely has too much clay and I’m amending now. Based on your recommendations, I’m wondering if I’ve given them too much water after flowering. Any advice?
I am growing 4 potted lemon trees (seeds organic lemon). They are about 2 1/2 years old. 3 are small fluffy dwarf sized but one is 5 ft. tall with 1 inch thorns. It’s got a 1/2 inch trunk for the 1st foot then it branched into 2 trunks with several long, beautiful but spindly branches. I live in western NC and brought them in because of the cold. I have a small apartment and the branches on the “monster” lemon are so long I loosely staked the double trunk with plastic twine at the 2 ft. level and the 4 ft. level. The stakes are long PVC tomato stakes. Will they be okay for a while? Those thorns are dangerous and moving it around to chase the sun has injured me and my dog. I also noticed it bending and about to fall over with the branches waving like crazy in brisk winds. Should I take the 2 stakes out?
Hi Greg, just moved to San Diego and the house came with some citrus trees. I think I did all the opposite things you mention in your post, and have butchered it! I thinned it out pretty good, but the prior owner also let cross cross and vertical branches go wild so the tree looks full on the bottom with the removed middle portion and tall on the top. Any advice on how to correct my mishap or just let it grow back and not mess with it any longer?
Hi Ian,
It should grow back just fine. Only beware of sunburn on exposed branches and paint them as necessary to prevent that.
Greg, I love your posts. Thanks for all your information!!! I live in Vista, just up the road from you. I have an inherited 1- acre orchard with some overgrown citrus. Last year I got a little over zealous and chopped them all down to a manageable size and shape, removed splitting limbs, big overhaul. Since then they have responded with a lot more growth, but all the new growth looks like suckers—tons of twisted ribbed branches with lots of thorns and curly leaves towering high. My dad was helping me prune our stone fruit yesterday and I lamented about how much more citrus pruning I needed to do, and he said he read something about if you prune citrus the wrong way you get suckers—and sure enough, all of these weird branches are coming out of last year’s cuts. I can’t find anything else that talks about non-rootstock- sucker-breeding wrong-way pruning. Have you ever experienced this?
Thanks for all the great information here!
I have two questions. I have a navel orange tree we planted 2.5 years ago, and the leaves seem healthy, and it made a few tasty oranges last year. But, I can’t get it to grow vertically – I think the highest leaf is 24 inches from the ground. It’s root graft is only about 5 inches from the ground, and then there are 5 different branches sprawling outward – but none seem to be a vertical trunk. I don’t think they’re suckers… How do I get a vertical branch?
Also, will a young struggling mandarin with split branches/bark, from sun/freeze damage I think, likely be worth babying to help it recover? Or if there’s bad splitting, would it be better to replace it? If sunburn happened already, should I still paint it before this summers heat?
Greg, I have a Pixey tangerine that we planted in 2017. Bought it from a well known nursery and they said it was 3 years old at the time and should produce tangerines next season. To date it hasn’t produced any fruit and the tree is now 9 years old. The tree hasn’t gotten much bigger either still approx. 4 ft tall and not very wide. It will have blossoms on it but they never produce fruit. Is there such a thing as a sterile citrus tree lol. My husband wants to get rid of it since it doesn’t produce. What might I do to get it producing or is it time to remove it.
Help! I have a clementine which would usually be flowering or fruiting by now (November 23) it is quite Barton, the trunk and branches are black and tho there are new leaves coming through some branches have older leaves at the end of a sickly looking branch. I live in southern Portugal, this clementine has been a very questionable tree since we bought the property over 10 years ago, it always struggled, then in 2018 after I started to learn more bout fruit tree care it started to look healthy, then we had a wildfire and all my fruit trees became singed, so I pruned and discarded all the fruits etc. 2021 came and this tiny little tree started again to look healthy, producing the most delicious seedless clementines that I am sure are most likely mandarins… thus 2022 just a handful of fruit and each segment with a huge seed… now here I am again, wondering what to do… any suggestions regarding pruning it right back or not, what fertiliser blend to use and when would be greatly appreciated. 🙏🏼
Greg,
As a new/inexperienced orange tree owner I am happy to have found your site which is chock-full of great information.
I live in Palm Springs and have a
Trovita Orange tree (1yr old)
and a Midknight Valencia orange (2yrs old.)
They have produced hundreds of blossoms in February, and then scores of bud’s in March but then all fall off.
From what I’ve read, it says that “Bud drop” is a natural defense mechanism from a young tree, not wanting to produce a lot of fruit on its thin branches.
However, on the Midknight , I discovered one orange that is still ripening that is directly on the main central trunk.
Really looking forward to see when it actually ripens, and how it tastes.
I’m really interested in your pruning directions, and from what I’ve read, I should really not touch these trees at least for a while, correct?
Also, there was no evidence of one main trunk coming up the center so friend of mine told me to bend one of the top branches up and tie it to a stake as it will then take over as the main lead.
Is this necessary and does it make sense?
Hi Greg,
I messed up and got frustrated with the white mold on my very old but productive lemon tree… I just read your post and I’ve done everything you said not to do! I cut whole branches (and a big one) and exposed sunlight into the entire tree thinking it would burn off the mold and let it breathe. I removed all dead branches and all of the mold. I sprayed the rest of the tree with vinegar and a little soap and it is raining a whole lot today so I may not spray down the tree to remove the treatment. I’m in avacado capital fallbrook, ca. Is there anything I can do at this point to fix the wrong decisions?
Hi Briana,
The tree will probably be fine as long as you prevent it from being sunburned. Any of those interior/bare branches need to be protected until new leaves grow in to cover them. Most people use white latex paint; you can dilute it with 50 percent water. The branches that are most susceptible to sunburn are those that face south or are horizontal.
See this post about avocados (the principles are all the same for citrus): https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocado-trees-get-sunburned-what-to-do/